Two-year-old Kills Himself With Gun From Mother's Purse

One horrific incident had a two-year-old fatally shooting himself Wednesday evening at Indianapolis, say the police. He took a gun from his mother's purse on the kitchen counter and accidentally shot himself.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department report that when they rushed to the kitchen counter at 9:15 p.m., they found the child unresponsive, with one gunshot wound on his shoulder.

The police said that the mother had turned away for a moment when the child climbed onto the counter, removed the pistol from the purse and shot himself at 9 p.m. It was at the northwest side home in the 5200 block of Alameda Road, near 52nd Street and West Kessler Boulevard.

Firefighters first tried to revive the toddler, but they could not. The authorities rushed him to Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health. However, he did not survive.

"The grieving mother is cooperating with detectives," the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said in a news release Thursday, "and after detectives questioned her she was later released."

The mother owns a gun permit for the .380 Bersa semi-automatic pistol. She was the only one with the child during the shoot, said the police.

The IMPD urges gun owners to keep their weapons unloaded, unlocked and out of the reach of children. Moreover, ammunition and guns should be stored in separate locations, while keys for gun locks and ammunition safes should be hidden at spots far away from the house keys.